Slicing apparatus.



A. KENNEDY.

SLICING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED Nov.12, 1914.

1,149,525. Patented Aug. 10, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

A. KENNEDY.

SLICING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 12. 1914.

Patented Aug. 10, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A. KENNEDY.

SLICING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 12, 1914.

1,149,525. Patented Aug. 10,1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

A. KENNEDY.

SLICING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED Nov,12. 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET '4.

1,149,525. Patented Aug. 10,1915.

WzLbwsse fryer/tor g g (MWMW ALEXANDER KENNEDY, OF LPECKI-IAM,.LONDON,ENGLAND.

SLIOING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 10, 1915.

Application filed. November 12, 1914. Serial No. 871,698.

means to secure the food thereon and with one or more interlockingdevices for detachably securing it to a support.

According to one feature of this invention I so combine a tray'for foodto be sliced with the means in afood-slicing machine whereby the food isfed'forward for a fresh out, that the support is readily detachable fromthe said feeding means; means to hold the food on to the support may ormay not be carried by the support. The means to provide engagementbetween the said support and a member comprised in the feeding means ofthe machine con-- veniently takes the form of three projections on theone and three key-hole slots or their equivalent on the other sodisposed that the length of two of the slots are in a directiontransverse to that of the length of the third, that one of the saiddirections is transverse to the line of cut and the other transverse tothe line of feed, substantially as and for the purpose described. v

Various constructions falling within the scope of the present inventionare illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whi ch Figure 1 is aperspective view of one construction of food support and grip carried bythe support; Fig. 2 is a plan view of a member forming part of a slicingmachine to which the support shown in Fig. 1 is to be attached; Fig. 3is a longitudinal section on the lines 3.3 of Figs. 1 and 2 showing theparts represented in these figures assembled together; Fig. 4 is aperspective view of an alternative construction of support; Fig. 5 showsanother modification; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a detail of aportion of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of another modification;and Figs. 8, 9, 10, l1 and 12 illustrate alternative constructions of adetail.

Like reference characters indicate like parts in all the figures of thedrawings.

A tray is prepared provided with sides A and with an adjustable strap Bcarried upon pins B adapted to slide in guides B supported upon thesides A of the tray. Each pin B is in the form of a screwthreaded rodupon which two parallel flats have been filed and the guides B arescrewthreaded at their upper extremities but have portions of thescrew-threading cut away after the manner of it breech-lock screw sothat the pins B can-slide freely up and down in one position but aresecurely held if rotated through one-quarter of a turn. On the underside of the tray are three feet of which two only, C, C are visible inthe drawings. At the bottom of each foot is formed a neck 0 leaving ahead C At D is shown the feed table of an automatic slicing machine ofthe well-known type having a'rotatory circular knife. In the feed tableare formed three key-hole slots E, E E to cooperate with the three feetC, C C respectively to provide means for detachably securing the tray tothe table. The two slots E E have their lengths disposed transversely tothe direction of out while the other slot E has its length disposedtransversely to the direction of feed; the large end of the slot E ismade somewhat larger than the corresponding portions of the slots E E tofacilitate bringing the parts together. The three slots and the threelegs are so disposed that when the heads C have been introducedinitially into the large ends of the slots the tray is moved relativelyto the table about the foot in the slot E asa pivot, the inclined edgeof the slot E serving to drive the feet in both the slotsE E forwardinto their proper positions. The direction in which the table is movedfor the cut is indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2 it will thus be seenthat the thrust set up between the knife and the material in the traytends to force the foot that is in the slot E more securely home ratherthan to loosen it. In order, however, to provide for firm engagementbetween the tray and table I may arrange beneath each slot a wedge-likesurface F as seen in Fig. 9, or blocks F as seen in Figs. 10 and'l1,-tocooperate with an inclined surface F 2 on the head C of a foot so thatmovement of the latter toward the small end of the slot produces awedging action to hold the tray and table firmly engaged. Further, inorder to provide against accidental disengagement due to the inertia ofthe tray and its load when the motion of the food table is reversed Imay provide a snap-lock as seen in Fig. 8 in the form of a plate-springGr provided with a hump G and secured to the underside of the table justbeneath the slot in the position shown. The foot G experiences noresistance on first insertion but as it is moved to the right in Fig. 8it can only do so by deflecting the spring and so is snapped intoposition and held there, as will be readily understood. Each foot C, C 0is made sufficiently long to carry the tray clear of the spikes Dwhichare usually provided to prevent the food from shifting. The trayitself is provided with spikes A and the strap 13 with spikes B for asimilar purpose.

In place of the adjustable strap B I may employ a pivoted arm H as seenin Fig. '7. This arm is carried upon a tubular sleeve H within which isa spring H in compression but also under continual stress and heldtwisted between a pin H and the said sleeve. Upon the side A of the trayis a ledge A slotted at A which serves to support the arm againstendwise movement when cutting is in progress. When it is desider to takea fresh grip of the food the top of the arm is moved out to the right,as viewed in Fig. 7, and when the other end of the arm clears the slot Athe compression of the spring 11 causes it to snap forward and be heldin the outward position by engagement with the edge of the ledge A Thesleeve H then protrudes through the bracket H and if pressure be appliedto the protruding end to compress the spring the latter will by itstwist, when the arm is in register with the slot A return the arm to theposition seen in Fig. 7

In place of a rigid strap B (as seen in Fig. 1) I may make it flexibleas seen at B in Fig. 5 and may provide it with a tab J i pierced withholes J to cooperate with a spring-plunger J (as seen in Fig. 5) andmore clearly in part section in Fig. 6.

In Fig. 5 is seen a construction of tray A whose contour is circular;this is intended for use with circular brawns or for cutting sevensausages at a timearranged in the well-known formation of six incircular order about a central one forming the seventh. The tag-securingdevice J, J J permits of goods varying considerably in size and shape tobe handled in the same tray. The strap B may be provided with spikes ornot.

In Fig. 4. is shown a construction of tray intended for carrying loavesof rectangular section such as are employed for sandwiches. Upon thetray are guides K upon which the loaf rests so as to be presented to theknife in the manner indicated in chain line at K Three spikes A areprovided upon the tray and the strap takes the form seen at B supportedby the sides A of the tray and held down by tension springs of which oneis seen at K A great advantage arising from this construction is thatthe loaf is presented cornerwise to the knife with the result that thecrust is not torn from the crumb, as frequently occurs when a flat sideis presented to the knife first. Further the guiding effect of theshaped supports K insures that when the strap B is lifted and the loafmoved forward for a fresh feed the cut face is kept approximatelyparallel with its former position, thus avoiding waste of bread. At thetop of the strap B is a wire handle B to enable it to be raised to freethe loaf and the ends of the handle are prolonged to form spikes B InFig. 12 is seen in perspective a construction which gives the functionof that shown in Figs. 9, 10 and 11 and which is an alternative tothese. One of the two parts to be secured together is provided with aT-shaped slot M, M and the other with a wedge shaped foot L. The foot isinserted into the large portion or head M of the slot and is then movedinto the tapering stem portion M The parts are so arranged that theaction of cutting the material tends to force the parts so that the footL enters farther into the stem M and thus causes the two parts to bewedged securely together.

It is to be understood that other constructions than those described indetail and illustrated fall within the scope of this invention, thus theterm tray is to be taken as indicating a support for the food but notnecessarily one with sides nor one that is in any sense trough-like; itmay be a plain flat slab. The interlocking devices between the tray andits support may be variously constructed but are intended to be such aspermit of quick and easy attachment and detachment and the scope of thisinvention does not extend to the employment of an ordinary screw-clampas means for attachingsthe tray to its support; a prominent advantage ofthe present invention is that it provides interchangeability of thetrays and enables one slicing machine to be used for a variety of foodscarried on a corresponding number of trays, with a small expenditure oftime in changing one for another. The time expended in screwing orunscrewing nuts or screws is impracticable for the main purpose of thisinvention and devices depending upon such operation for their successfulapplication do not fall within its scope nor come within the category ofthe term interlocking devices as herein employed. On the other hand inthe place of the key-hole slots E, E E the equivalent of these may beemployed and fall within the scope of this invention; such a device, forexample as a parallel-sided slot arranged so as at one end to engagewith a groove on a pin moved within the slot is regarded as equivalentto a key-hole slot as is any arrangement of slot and pin in whichengagement is due to relative motion between the pin and the part inwhich is the slot.

It is to be understood that in so far as the tray forms a ready andconvenient means for holding food while it is being sliced it fallswithin the scope of this invention without reference to the precisecharacter of the object to which it is secured in a readily detachablemanner.

It is to be understood that I do not claim for holding the parts firmlyyet removably in place, the use of pins or their equivalent inconjunction with yielding retaining means nor the use of a pin andsocket arrangement cooperating with resilient retaining means other thanthe specific construction in which resilient retaining means provided bythe spring G, G are applied to one of three simultaneously cooperatinginterlocking devices. But

WVhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In apparatus for slicing food, a tray member to receive food, asupporting member for the tray, means carried by the tray to secure thefood thereon, and interlocking pin and slot connections for securing thetray to the support, the connections being so constructed and arrangedthat relative movement between the said two members for their engagementand disengagement occurs in a plane that is transverse to the plane inwhich the food is to be sliced; substantially as described.

2. In apparatus forslicing food, the com bination of a tray member toreceive food, a feed table of a slicing machine constituting a supportfor the tray, devices carried by the tray to secure the food thereon,and interlocking pin and slot connections for securing the tray to thefeed table, said connections being so constructed and arranged thatrelative movement between the said two members for their engagement anddisengagement occurs in a plane that is transverse to the plane in whichthe food is to be sliced; substantially as described.

3. In apparatus for slicing food, a tray member to receive the food,means to secure food upon the tray, a second member in the form of asupport for the tray, three projections on one of the said members andthree cooperating slots on the other member so disposed that the lengthsof two of the slots are in a plane transverse to the plane of the lengthof the third and that one of the said planes is transverse to the lineof cut and the other transverse to the line of feed; substantially asdescribed.

4. In apparatus for slicing food, a tray member to receive the food,means to secure food upon the tray, a supporting member for the tray,three projections on one of the said members, three cooperating slots inthe other member, a resiliently controlled retaining device cooperatingwith one of the slots to engage the cooperating projection, and whichslots are so disposed that the lengths of two of the slots are in aplane transverse to the plane of the length of the third and that one ofthe said planes is transverse to the line of cut and the othertransverse to the line of feed; substantially as described.

5. In apparatus for slicing food, a tray member to receive food havingflat surfaces to contact with the food and so disposed as to receive andcooperate with two adjacent flat surfaces of a body of food whosecrosssection is rectangular, a supporting member for the tray, meanscarried by the tray to secure the food thereon, and interlocking pin andslot devices for securing the tray to the supporting member, saiddevices being so constructed and arranged that relative movement betweenthe two members for their engagement and disengagement occurs in a planethat is transverse to the plane in which the food is to be sliced;substantially as described.

6. In apparatus for slicing food, a tray member to receive the food, asupporting member for the tray, a flexible band having one end securedto the tray, means to secure the other end to the tray in such a manneras to vary the eifective length of the band, and interlocking pin andslot devices for connecting the tray member to the supporting member,said devices being so constructed and arranged that relative movementbetween the said two members for their engagement and disengagementoccurs in a plane that is transverse to the plane in which the food isto be sliced; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALEXANDER KENNEDY.

Witnesses:

HAROLD H. SIMMoNs, RONALD S. DOLLEYMORE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained. for five cents each, byaddressing the "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

